


Her Brothers' Pride

by angelikitten



Category: Final Fantasy XII
Genre: Community: queerlygen, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-07
Updated: 2011-04-07
Packaged: 2017-10-21 13:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/225814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelikitten/pseuds/angelikitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penelo always misses her brothers, but it hits her harder at some times than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Brothers' Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [](http://queerlygen.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**queerlygen**](http://queerlygen.dreamwidth.org/) Family Flashfic Challenge. According to the manual, Penelo's brothers taught her how to fight. Apparently I ran with that, to the point that I made up names for them.

The strangest things remind her of how much she misses them.

It's just another night at another camp, and Basch is giving her and Vaan another training session, this time in defence during unarmed combat. After Basch knocks Vaan down with a single hit for the fifth time, it's her turn. She lets out a breath and assumes a defensive stance - all she has to do is block his attacks, but she knows that it will be harder than it first sounds. She nods her readiness, and Basch swings with his right fist. She shifts her weight to the left as she brings her right arm vertical to knock his fist away - he hits air just above her right shoulder, and he smiles at her for managing it on her first try.

And that was when it hit her.

She stumbles back slightly with tears in her eyes as she remembers Feli laughing as Galan fell to the floor, not expecting her to deflect his punch like that. She remembers Elix cheering, and nearby adults bewildered at the quiet boy's outburst. She remembers how proud all her brothers were of her afterward, and feeling so happy that she fell asleep smiling that night.

She opens her eyes. She doesn't remember sitting down, but there she is, and Basch is crouched next to her, checking her for injuries, while Vaan hovers behind him.

"I think... I just need to be alone."

Basch looks at her for a moment, then nods once before standing up and walking away, taking Vaan with him.

She wonders what her brothers would think of her now - travelling with sky pirates and royalty, hunting legendary monsters for fun and profit while trying to restore the kingdom of Dalmasca with one of the boys they took in after the plague. They'd tease her about Vaan surely, just as they had before. They used to take her protests as proof and she would play along with that; anything to stop them from finding out that she liked girls before she could work out what that meant for her.

She walks slowly to the campfire and lies down in her bedroll, before she falls asleep: still crying, still wondering if her brothers would still be proud of her if she had ever told them.


End file.
